Build the study skills your students need most

Instructor, July-August, 1995

Step-by-step mini-lessons for modeling comprehension and note-taking

Reading comprehension and note-taking may be the most important study skills your students need to master. With these skills under their belts, they'll have an easier time learning to write paragraphs, develop stories, compile research, and so on. But how do you teach these skills in a way that engages kids?

We developed a series of mini-lessons based on two ideas: 1) It's important to teach these skills when students display the need not in isolation; and 2) The best way to teach these skills is by modeling the process with relevant content - a novel, a student's essay, and the like.

The lessons you'll find here are designed to be used throughout the school year and across the curriculum.

Reading Comprehension

I've found that the most powerful tool for improving reading comprehension is developing in kids an awareness of the thought process involved. I model it by verbalizing as I read aloud - my questions and hypotheses, the steps I use to solve a problem, and so on. Children literally hear me work through the text. - Lois

PREPARING

I begin by flagging passages in the book that call upon various reading strategies. The flags remind me to think out loud the strategy I am using. I also make a checklist of the strategies I want students to use (below), distribute a copy to each student, and make a transparency to refer to during the demonstration.

I explain that as I read aloud, I will be thinking out loud. To help students understand the technique, we discuss how sometimes we talk to ourselves as we work though a problem. A student might share how she prepares for school by reciting the items she needs to bring. I point out that we often think aloud when solving a math problem or working through a science experiment.

MODELING

I explain that as I read and think aloud, I want students to identify the strategies I am using, then check them off on the transparency. Here's how the dialogue went as I read from Pigs Might Fly by Dick King-Smith (Scholastic, 1980):

Mrs. C: I have chosen to read Pigs Might Fly by Dick King-Smith. I know that pigs can't really fly, so this must be a fantasy since that is the type of literature that has animals or objects talking and doing things they can't really do. I also know that pigs are supposed to be rather intelligent animals. From the picture on the cover, I see that a pig appears to be flying over a farm. Maybe the pig is the main character and imagines he can fly. I predict that he will use that fantasy to help him solve the problem in the story. (By this time many hands are raised. I invite students to tell me which strategies they hear me using.)

Carly: You thought about what you already knew about pigs and stories. You also looked at the picture and predicted what the story will be about. (Carly then checks off the first two strategies on the transparency.)

Mrs. C: Chapter 1 is entitled "Taken Away." Who is taken away? I can see in the picture a tiny pig in a pen with a large hog. Is one of them going to be taken away?

Brian: You asked questions. (He then places a check next to this strategy, and I begin to read.)

Mrs. C: "Oh, no!" cried Mrs. Barleylove miserably "Oh, no!" "What it is, dear?" came the voice of Mrs. Gobblespud next door. "One dead?" "No," said Mrs. Barleylove. "Not yet anyway"

The little pig must be the one that is going to be taken away.

Elena: You guessed and predicted what will happen next. (She places a check in the appropriate spot.)

Mrs. C: Mrs. Barleylove was a pedigree Gloucester Old Spots, a flopeared white pig spotted with black blobs of color, as though a giant had flicked his paintbrush at her.

I can picture this large black-and-white sow with a curly tail, grunting as she walks around the barnyard.

Julie: You described the picture in your mind. (She checks it off.)

NOW IT'S THEIR TURN

When we've finished this modeling exercise, I explain that I want students to be able to use these strategies when they read silently, but that first they'll practice out loud. I divide the class into pairs find ask students to take turns - one reads aloud for ten minutes, stopping periodically to think out loud, while the other checks off strategies.

As they work, I observe, encourage, and announce when it's time to switch. If a student has trouble verbalizing, I'll prompt her with questions like: What do you picture in your mind now? or What do you think will happen next? I encourage the listener to ask questions, as well.

At the end of the session, students agree that this exercise helped them better understand what they read.

FOLLOW-UP

The next day and then periodically throughout the year, I model this process again and have students practice it using a variety of reading materials, including nonfiction and periodicals. You can also adapt these strategies to help children get more out of textbooks. For example, I often ask students to survey a lesson before reading it by looking at the pictures, maps, graphs, heading, questions, and summaries. I encourage them to ask questions and look for answers as they read. I model a think-aloud as I read a textbook assignment, then give students a chance to practice with partners. Eventually students will begin to incorporate these strategies as they read silently on their own.